Tempeh, Kale, and Sweet Potato Skillet

This supremely nourishing trio of ingredients — tempeh, kale, and sweet potatoes — are the basis of a quick, colorful, and comforting meal. It’s an adaptable dish, too—don’t like tempeh? Use tofu, seitan, or a can of chickpeas or white beans instead. It’s great with chard in place of kale, as well. Great served with any of the slawrecipes on this site. Photos byEvan Atlas.

Serves: 6

1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

8-ounce package tempeh, cut into 1/4-inch slices crosswise

1 good-sized bunch kale (about 8 to 12 ounces)

3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced

15- to 16-ounce can diced tomatoes (try fire-roasted)

2 teaspoons good-quality curry powder, or to taste

Sriracha sauce or dried hot red pepper flakes to taste

2 thinly sliced scallions and/or 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup cashew pieces for topping

Cook, bake, or microwave the sweet potatoes until done but still nice and firm, allowing 2 to 3 minutes per potato. If you’d like to keep the skins on, scrub them well. Otherwise just rinse. Once cool enough to handle, cut them into large dice, leaving skins on if you had scrubbed them.

Heat half of the oil together with the soy sauce in a stir-fry pan. Add the tempeh and stir quickly to coat. Sauté over medium heat until golden and beginning to turn crisp, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove to a plate then set aside until needed.

Meanwhile, cut the leafy part of the kale away from the stem, then coarsely chop into bite-sized pieces. Rinse well.

Heat the remaining oil in the stir-fry pan. Add the garlic and sauté over low heat until golden.

Add the kale along with about 1/2 cup water, the tomatoes, curry powder, and optional curry paste. Cover and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the kale is tender but still bright green.

Stir in the diced sweet potatoes, tempeh, and scallions and/or cilantro and cook, uncovered, for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the cashews, and serve at once.

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20 comments on “Tempeh, Kale, and Sweet Potato Skillet”

This recipe is simple and delicious! Great way to make use of all those healthy odds and ends you have in the fridge. I wasn’t sure how this would be with the use of the diced toms and the curry but it is fantastic. Very flavorful without being too distinct (either asian or indian flare). This one definitely goes into the recipe rotation!

This is a wonderful dish- delicious and impressive to serve. Add to that it’s health benefits and it’s a triumvirate of goodness. I didn’t change a thing except to heat it up with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. I have made it twice now and have given the recipe out both times.

Loved this recipe. I kind of improvised because I couldn’t find any sweet potatoes at the store, so I used Yams, and whatever ingredients I had laying around the house too (which was most besides the cashews). It turned out great.

First time making it. Not only did I love the flavors, but my 8 year old son did as well. I substituted scallions for a small amount of yellow onion since I didn’t have any on hand, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, 50% mild curry and 50 % regular curry. The cashews were an excellent addition.

I loved this recipe! But I do have a couple of questions: after microwaving the sweet potatoes, do you remove the skin? And cut into chunks? That’s what I did – but I’m really such a novice cook, I need the most basic instructions :).

Hello — you might try some all-purpose seasoning blend, like Spike or Mrs. Dash. You can also consider chili spices — a good quality chili powder and a bit of cumin. The bottom line, you can use whatever seasonings you most enjoy, so that this dish tastes good to you! Our recipes are quite flexible.